Hueco Revival
by Truthfulpen
Summary: Inspired by a recent turn of events, Kurotsuchi Mayuri, Urahara and Orihime conspire to bring back some powerful Arrancar in a bid to create a new subdivision of warriors in Soul Society. Multi-Pairing. Arrancar-Centric.
1. Chapter 1

**A/N: I know I said I would wait till the readers from my other story Unconventional Unions pm'd me/left reviews telling me if they thought this story would be worthwhile publishing, but screw it. I am in love with the idea of this story and I really wanted to share it with the lovely people on this website**

**I know writing fanfiction set during current arcs can be risky/messy but I'm okay with this story not necessarily working out the same as what happens in the manga. Besides, the fact that the ARRANCAR and tons of non-canon pairings will be featured in this story has already veered it away from being even close to canon.**

**Anyway, I don't want to bore you anymore with my ramblings, so without further adieu, here is Hueco revival!**

I Do Not Own Bleach

* * *

><p>Arrogance was the downfall of the shinigami. The very name by which they styled themselves stunk of their supercilious bigotry. The name Shinigami derived from 'Shini' death, 'gamikami' god; the Gods of death. They named themselves as if they were some sort of all powerful benevolent force; the only ones who decided who deserved the right to live. It was laughable really when one thought of the reality of their situation. They were nothing more than the pawns of an 'omnipresent' being who deigned concerning himself with the affairs of his own creations too bothersome. Kami was an absentee parent, in essence. Shinigami were nothing more than one of the many babysitters of the world and its children. By their own misguided enthusiasm they had come to the conclusion that they were more important than they truly were.

Kurotsuchi Mayuri scoffed as he entered a series of complicated passcodes into the user interface of a rarely frequented portion of the 12th division. It was that same arrogance that had nearly cost them the thousand year blood war and almost cost the soutaichou his life. Almost. If it weren't for the sheer chaos that the realms were thrown into when the Quincy bastards had invaded and raised hell in the spirit world, powerful souls like the soutaichou and Kyoraku would've been reborn in the realm of the living and their chances of restoration would have been lost forever. Fortunately for them, the sheer level of spiritual destruction that Yhwach and his minions had wrought on the realms caused a sort of purgatory-esque realm to be created where all the souls with considerable amounts of reiatsu who 'died' ended up during the war. Souls with considerable reiatsu were too powerful to be processed in the cycle of reincarnation as it was on the verge of collapse, and thus only the souls who possessed little to no reiatsu were capable of transcending to the world of the living or transcending to soul society. The buildup of reiatsu possessing souls who needed to experience transcension (which was impossible at the universe's state at the time) caused an irregularity in the inter-realm network. To save itself from implosion the multiverse created a rift the within itself, causing a small realm to be formed in the apex of the network where all of the powerful souls were filtered into limbo as the multiverse tried desperately to hold itself together under the circumstances. It was only due to Mayuri's sheer brilliance (and Urahara's he grudgingly admitted to himself) and the kami-defying abilities of Inoue Orihime that there was any hope for those who were stuck in the purgatory realm before it became disconnected from the cycle of incarnation of the universe. A self-satisfactory smirk crossed the mad scientist's lips as he recalled how he discovered what was happening to the multiverse.

_Kurotsuchi Mayuri had once hypothesized in his early days before his imprisonment in the maggots nest what might happen in an event such as this. He had broached the subject of a universe that was potentially far more complex than once thought to his peers, and they had mocked him. They called his theories drabbles of fiction and nearly laughed him out of his fraternity. 'Fools,' he almost spat aloud. If he hadn't slaughtered the lot of them he would have enjoyed seeing the looks on their faces at the realization that he had been onto something all along. Hell, he probably would have enjoyed belittling their simple-mindedness more than he enjoyed running them through with ashisogi jizo. 'Vindication would certainly have trumped wasting away my talents amongst those Barbarians in that deplorable prison. Alas, hindsight is 20/20. ' Mayuri thought in passing as his hands flew furiously over buttons on the control panel console. He would have to make a mental note to himself not to kill respected scientists from well-to-do families in his fits of rage, or maybe create a prompt for Nemu to incapacitate him if the thought ever happened to cross his mind again._

_The multiverse was clearly on its very last prongs of stability, a hairs breadth away from complete collapse. Even though the threat of Yhwach had been neutralized the very fabric of existence still seemed to be bursting at the seams as the multiverse continued to spiral out of balance. Though to be accurate, since nearly annihilating the Quincy over 200 years ago the multiverse had never truly been in balance, and chaotic souls continued to recycle themselves between the realms, wreaking havoc every generation or so. In the Quincy's absence however the number of destructive souls in the world seemed to grow alarmingly, and the current state of the human world was testament to this. The sheer amount of overwhelmingly devious souls who corrupted and destroyed the Earth, creating disease and suffering in their wake was higher than ever in the recorded history of the multiverse. There were simply too many fatally flawed souls who kept being re-filtered through the cycle of reincarnation, and not enough new souls being created in their stead. But the lack of Quincy's didn't appear to be the problem at the moment, Mayuri observed as several monitors beamed to life in his laboratory. Something was causing an overload in the multiverse, and he was almost positive he knew why. One look at the large screen in front of him confirmed his suspicions: Souls of the recently deceased were not passing into their respective 'next lives'. This was not good at all._

"_Nemu! Consolidate the universal death-birth rate data across the realms at once!" Mayuri yelled as he quickly begun working with another set of screens and consoles._

"_Hai Kurotsuchi-Taichou" said Nemu reflexively as she set out to complete her task._

_Kurotsuchi wasted no time prompting the computers within his reach to begin calibrating to the complicated sequences he typed out. His intuition and sense of fore planning had almost never led him astray before, so he was confident in his course of action. There would no doubt that the world was in an impossibly precarious calamity at this point, and no matter the outcome there were an unprecedented number of possibilities to explore in the wake of his new discoveries. He would salivate right now if it were not utterly unbecoming._

"_I knew you'd be on the job by the time I got here" a voice said behind him._

"_Unlike you I abhor idle procrastination in the stead of exploring the explorable, Urahara Kisuke" He said casually, briefly turning his head to look at the former 12__th__ Division Captain before setting his focus back on the computers he was tinkering with._

"_Ah, but if you never take time to smell the roses you'll never get to really appreciate how brilliant each exploration really is." Kisuke said, adjusting his hat on his head as moved to stand beside Mayuri._

"'_Tch. Save your rhetoric for that band of misfits you're responsible for minding, I have a ground-breaking discovery to make"_

"_You believe that the Wandenreich's corrosive manipulation of the reishi of Soul Society and Hueco Mundo has begun to tear our existence apart, don't you?" Kisuke said knowingly, observing the multiple screens the scientist had streaming information and generating images._

"_More than that. The damage they've done has prevented souls from being able to transcend between soul society, the human world, and Hueco Mundo" Mayuri responded, eyes never leaving the screen in front of him._

"_If they're not passing through the cycle of reincarnation, what is happening to all the souls of those that have succumbed to death during this war?" _

"_That is what I am in the process of figuring out" Mayuri replied tersely._

_Just then, Nemu returned with a stack of papers in hand walking briskly towards the two men. She gave Kisuke a slight nod of acknowledgement before addressing her Taichou._

"_Kurotsuchi-Taichou I have completed the task that you have asked of me. I collected the birth-death rate data across the realms based on the net total of fluctuations of reishi and matter as a result of the emergence of sentient life. Based on the numbers our inter-realm monitors have collected I have found that the ratio of birth to the net total of deaths recorded is approximately 15 emergences of sentient life, or 'births', to every thousand deaths" Both Mayuri and Kisuke visibly stiffened at the alarming news, but said nothing as Nemu continued to speak._

"_This revelation led me to believe that there must be some sort of fatal error in our monitoring system, but I assure you Kurotsuchi-Taichou such is not the case. Upon closer inspection of the details of 30 individual inter-realm wide emergences, I discovered that they were the reincarnations of beings that contained no reiatsu or reiatsu potential within them. All of these reincarnations appeared in the human world, and originated in soul society. I attempted to locate the reishi migration of the remaining souls which possessed high levels of reiatsu and I was met with the discovery that in between their migration from one realm to another these souls seem to 'disappear' through what appears to be a rift in time-space"_

"_It is as I suspected. The stress the Wandenreich has put on the cycle of reincarnation has forced the multiverse to create a new realm to act as a storing pool for souls that it cannot process and reincarnate without undoing itself entirely." Mayuri said ominously, clasping his hands together._

"_Which means there might still be hope for the Soutaichou and the other members of the Gotei 13 who have lost their lives during this war" Added Kisuke, not mentioning the one particular devastating loss he had experienced as a result of Yhwach's war machine._

"_I should be able to finish constructing a navigation system which would allow me to locate the storing realm that these souls are being transported to within the hour. However, actually extracting these souls without utterly destroying what little balance is left tethering the multiverse together may be potentially problematic" _

"_Maybe, but Maybe not." Kisuke said thoughtfully. "We may need to enlist the help of Inoue-san's powers for this. Without a doubt the girl does not yet possess the knowledgeability or strength to help us on her own, but with a bit of engineering on our part we may be able to amplify the scope of her powers in order solve this problem once and for all"_

"_Hn. Very well then. Nemu retrieve Inoue Orihime at once… and if her foolishly stubborn Kurosaki comrade attempts to stop you, tell him Urahara sent you" He said rapping his fingers against his cane._

That had been a little more than two weeks ago. They had been quite fortunate to have succeeded at retrieving the souls of reiatsu possessing Shinigami and returning balance to the worlds as best as they could, Mayuri thought as headed down the corridor of the restricted area of the 12th division. The events of the thousand year blood war had taken an apathetic Mayuri and enlightened him to a point where it could not be helped that he had to take matters into his own hands. His old mentor's musings and philosophy on life was starting to make more sense to him the further he involved himself in this potentially ground breaking project of his. While he was by no means concerned with the personal affairs of the idiots who had surrounded him in this life, but he'd be damned if he would allow archaic strains of bigotry to prematurely end his quest to discover the great mysteries of existence. If he had learned anything during that war, especially against Giselle Gewell, it was that his 'collection' was far more useful than he'd ever imagined. It was obvious that the gotei 13 was not enough to keep the realms in balance anymore. A new age of guardianship was required if there was to be any hope of maintaining balance. The purist mentality that only shinigami could protect the realms was foolish, and was what had nearly led them to the brink of utter destruction. Quincy's, powerful humans, Shinigami, and Arrancar alike were all a necessary part of existence. A legion of guardians of the realms should be reflective of that undeniable truth. Mayuri pressed his hand against a door at the end of the corridor, and the sound of gears unlocking themselves clattered in his ears as the doors receded to reveal a large incubation room. It was a shame that the prototypes he used against Giselle had ended up getting purified. However, their powers paled in comparison to the ones of those he had in the in this room before him; he would have gladly given the prototype Arrancar up if it meant preserving the lives of his more treasured collections. Urahara Kisuke would be here soon with the girl and the _others_; there was much work to be done. If they intended to be successful with their proposition to the newly restored members of the gotei 13, they would need to complete this project by the time the revived taichou's were well enough to be present for a Taichou-class meeting which would be the first since the utter destruction of the seireitei and parts of rukongai.

* * *

><p><strong>AN: That's it for now. If I get at least 7 reviews for this story then i'll post the next chapter. If not then I'll take the hint and leave this one as a one-shot (ish). I hate to give reviewers 'ultimatums' so to speak, but I don't want to end up 80k words and 10+ chapters deep into a story that barely anyone reads again. As much as I love all of my writings it simply isn't prudent to be rushing home from school and work to write a story that no one except me cares about :/**

**Anyway, hope you guys enjoyed reading this chapter. Until next time!**


	2. Chapter 2: Little Black Dress

**A/N: Thank you to everyone who reviewed and encouraged me to keep working on this project. I've been feeling very inspired this past week so I decided to post up this chapter. I'll be posting the continuing chapter very soon. R&R if you like this chapter, and feel free to suggest pairings that you'd like to see later on in the story.**

* * *

><p><em>I Do Not Own Bleach<em>

.

.

* * *

><p>"Ano… do you think I'm overdressing?"<p>

Orihime fidgeted with the hem of the purple peplum dress as she looked herself over in the mirror. She had tried out 6 different outfits so far, but she hadn't found one that would fit just right. After two attempts at trying to put together a t-shirt and jeans ensemble she had decided she absolutely wanted to wear a dress. The problem was, none of the dresses she had seemed to fit the occasion. The yellow cocktail dress had been much too flashy. The baby-blue spaghetti strap dress hugged her curves a little too tightly to be practical and appropriate. Her forest-green shirtwaist dress reminded her too much of _his_ eyes, and the dress she had on now seemed too business casual to wear while she would be in Kurotsuchi's lab.

Tatsuki raised up from the magazine she was perusing to take a good look at her strawberry blonde friend.

"I don't know. Maybe if you actually told me where you were going I would be able to give you an answer"

Orihime pouted at the words of her best friend. She hated keeping secrets from Tatsuki but Urahara and Kurotsuchi had been adamant about her keeping their 'operation' under wraps, especially from Ichigo and their circle of friends. Their reasons made sense, especially because of how drastically her and her friends' lives would change in the coming weeks, and how tentative the situation really was. Blabbing to everyone about what would arguably be one of the most controversial initiatives in the history of EVER probably wouldn't be a good idea. The Millenium Blood War had revealed so many things that it made Orihime's head hurt just thinking about it.

"I… It's complicated Tatsuki-chan. I promised I wouldn't say anything until after it was safe. When it's over we'll talk, I promise" she tried to reassure her undoubtedly annoyed friend. Tatsuki hated it when things were hidden from her, especially when it concerned her friends. Orihime, being the empath that she was tried to give her best friend some consolation by promising to tell her everything later.

"Does this have to do with Ichigo?"

Orihime bit her lip nervously, trying to figure out how to say something without saying anything at all. "Ah… Yes and no"

"Does he know anything about this?"

"No he doesn't, and I need it to stay that way. If he finds out what's going on he'll overreact and try to protect me." She replied evenly as she put a mauve scarf to her neck to see if it would match. This purple dress wouldn't do she'd decided. The hem of the overskirt had little bits of frayed string at the end. She plucked them experimentally, as she looked around her now messy bedroom for a dress that was in slightly better condition. She wouldn't want anyone to think she didn't have good clothes._ 'I should pick up sewing again and hem this overskirt. Tailors are getting far too expensive these days'_ she thought wistfully.

Tatsuki had put down the magazine she was reading at this point and was giving Orihime her full attention, eyes alert and searching. "Is there something that you need to be protected from Orihime? I don't want those soul society people putting you in danger"

Orihime huffed in annoyance. "I'm not in any danger! And even if I was in any danger I'm strong enough to help myself" there was a slight edge to her voice as she spoke. She was immediately struck with guilt when she saw the look on her raven haired friends face.

"I'm sorry, I didn't mean…"

"Its fine, I get it. I just worry, you know? So much has happened over the years and barely anyone bothers to tell me anything. It's hard not to be overprotective when you don't know what's going on with the people you love. You're like a sister to me Orihime-chan." Tatsuki was slightly taken by the sudden edge to her friend's voice but she didn't allow herself to take it personally. She understood Orihime's frustration with being babied all the time, especially by the man who had been the object of her affections when she was a younger teen. A grown woman who'd virtually raised herself didn't want or need people trying to control her life, especially not Kurosaki.

"I know and I'm sorry to keep you in the dark about everything, but I'm going to change that." Orihime bit her lip nervously before she spoke again. She absentmindedly hoped that Urahara and Kurotsuchi hadn't bugged her with some weird spy camera or listening chip. She didn't want to be dissected by oompa loompas in Kurotsuchi's lab for breaking her non-disclosure. Maybe if she told the half-truth she'd only be halfway dissected. Wait, was that even possible?

"Ano, I can't tell you everything yet but basically Ichigo got rid of the bad guy but almost made the world go BOOM in the process. Urahara-san and Kurotsuchi-taichou fixed everything with the help of my powers. Now they need my help for something else"

All Tatsuki could manage was an astonished blink.

"You saved the world with your powers? How?"

"Yes. And I can't tell you yet Tatsuki-chan"

"So why do you need to dress up then if you're just helping out that old perv and the guy with the weird makeup?"

"… Because I'm also going to see an old friend again when I go there today"

Tatsuki raised a teasing eyebrow at that. "_Just_ a friend?"

Orihime felt her cheeks go hot at Tatsuki's insinuating tone. "It's not like that Tatsuki! At least I don't believe it is… it's been a very long time since I've seen Ul –" she stammered as she realized she'd almost given away too much information. "– Since I've seen my friend" she corrected herself.

"The last time we had seen each other… things didn't end that well. I just wanted to give a good impression when he returns"

Tatsuki smiled at her childhood friend. It made sense now why she was being so picky about what to wear today, and even why she'd decided to add inky black streaks to her strawberry blonde locks; there was someone she wanted to impress. A small part of her was glad it wasn't Ichigo she was doing all of this for, which was her concern in the beginning. Ichigo was a great guy, but hardly boyfriend material for someone like Orihime. He'd stifle her with his well-meaning overprotectiveness, and she'd never have the heart to tell him when to back off. Now that she knew the purpose of Orihime's trip (or at least all that she could know for now without pressuring the poor girl) Tatsuki had some renewed vigor. Hopping off of the bed she was sitting on Tatsuki dashed to the other girl's closet.

"Stay there for a minute; I think I know what would be absolutely perfect for you to wear today"

Reaching her hand into the far left corner of Orihime's closet and pulled out a large box.

"Remember that time that we went thrift shopping in West Tokyo?" she said as she opened up the box

"Hai, I remember" Orihime watched intently as Tatsuki rummaged through the contents of the box until she found what she was looking for and pulled it out.

"This dress that you bought there would be perfect. The black tendrils on it match the streaks in your hair"

The dress was a black and white vintage style cocktail dress. The top portion of the dress was solid black with long sleeves and vertical pleats. The bottom half of the dress was a flared out knee-length white skirt that had soft black tendrils vertically travelling down the length of it. It was intricate but simple, casual yet classy.

"Oh that looks perfect Tatsuki-chan! Let me try it on" Orihime beamed as she eyed the dress. She had completely forgotten about it all this time since it was holed up in a box deep in her closet. A few moments later she had wriggled out of the purple dress and slipped on the black and white one. One quick look in the mirror told her that she had found the right dress.

"You look great Orihime" Tatsuki admired, giving her best friend and roommate a quick once over.

Orihime flashed Tatsuki a bright smile in appreciation for the compliment. "Now all I have to do is fix my hair…"

.

.

.

"Quit dickin' around Kisuke! I don't wanna be holed up in this dump! Let's just fuckin' leave!" an angry voice bellowed through the shoten.

"Lower your voice Jaegerjaquez. The shinigami is waiting for the girl." Snapped an irritated Harribel. The blue haired former Espada was really starting to grate on her nerves with his obnoxious yelling.

"Tier is right Grimm-kun; we need to wait for Orihime-chan before we leave." Added Nel, albeit more softly. Thanks to Orihime repairing her mask she was finally restored to her adult form, standing a leggy 5"9 at her full height.

"'Tch. Whatever." The blue haired man grumbled, folding his arms over his chest and walking out the front of the shoten.

"Should we call him back?" Nel asked the fellow former tres espada across from her.

"No point" the blonde responded making a gesture with her hands. "If he wants to pout about being reprimanded then it is his choice. So long as he keeps his reiatsu hidden we needn't pursue him."

Nel shrugged. "I guess you're right"

.

.

Despite Orihime begging her not to, Tatsuki had been insistent on following her to Urahara's shoten. She had all but handcuffed herself to Orihime as she headed out the door, ignoring all of her protests. She knew the Orihime had meant it when she said that she'd tell her everything later, but she just couldn't in good conscience let her friend disappear for god knows how long again without at least seeing her off.

"Ne… Tatsuki-chan we're almost at the shoten…"

"Good."

"You don't have to follow me all the way…"

"I know I don't have to, but I want to."

Orihime sighed. If she thought she'd be half dissected before she was almost certain that she'd be fully dissected by the two scientists once Kisuke spotted her with Tatsuki. 3/4ths dissected at the least. As they entered the compound of the shoten Orihime spotted a flash of blue. In less than a millisecond the blue streak had appeared right in front of them in the form of a tall man, bumping straight into Tatsuki and causing her to falter in her step and almost fall.

"About fuckin' time you got here" the blue haired Arrancar said flashing a toothy smirk the blonde's way, completely ignorant of the woman he'd just bumped into.

"Hey, watch it asshole!" Tatsuki shouted, a scowl adorning her features.

"Who's your friend?" he asked sending a curious glance Tatsuki's way.

"Ah, this is Tatsuki. Tatsuki this is, Jaegerjaquez-san"

Tatsuki fixed Grimmjow with a sour glare, still smarting from the impact of his collision and still miffed that he hadn't so much as acknowledged the fact that he had bumped into her. "I hope this shit head isn't who you got dressed up for Orihime" she remarked resting a hand on her hip in contempt.

"Oi! you talking shit, squirrel mane?" He was in her personal space now, matching her glare with an equally disapproving scowl. Despite the Arrancar imposing physique and threatening aura, Tatsuki refused to back down.

"Hell yeah I am, douche."

"Skunk"

"Bastard"

"Bitch"

"Dirty dog"

"Whoa whoa whoa, I'm not a fucking dog!" Grimmjow exclaimed, heckles rising.

"Could've fooled me Blue's Clues"

At Tatsuki's last comment Orihime burst into a fit of giggles as the image of Grimmjow as the star of a show for young children came to life in her imagination. She attempted to stifle her giggles when Grimmjow sent her a glare, but she failed miserably.

"What the fuck is a 'Blue's Clues'!? Why is that funny!?'" he asked incredulously

"Figure it out" Tatsuki said stalking off. "Let's go Orihime" she added, and Orihime followed after her. All Grimmjow could do was look at the raven haired girl in ire and slight amusement. She was a spunky little chick; he had to give her that.

Once inside the shoten Tatsuki let out a huff of frustration. "That shinigami guy a total douchebag! How'd you end up being friends with him?"

"It's a long story Tatsuki-chan, but Jaegerjaquez-san isn't a shinigami"

"Eh? What the hell could he be if not a Shinigami? Humans don't move that fast unless they're Quincy, and he didn't look anything like Uryu"

"Well he's neither Shinigami nor Quincy. He's actually an…"

"Arrancar" another voice butt in. From the left end of the shoten two figures walked into the center of the room. One was a tall dark skinned woman with short bleach blonde hair whose face was mostly concealed by the neck of her shirt. The other was an equally tall female with long turquoise hair and what appeared to be a rams skull helmet.

"Excuse our compatriots behaviour… he can be a bit brash at times" the blonde woman said.

"Ohayou, Orihime-chan! Who's your friend?" the Turquoise haired woman chimed, waving at Orihime.

Orihme politely waved back at the two women. "Ohayou Nel-san, Tier-san. This is Tatsuki"

"It's nice to finally meet you tatsuki-chan! I have heard so much about you!" Nel said excitedly and grabbing Tatsuki into a quick but strong hug. Initially shocked by the unusually friendly gesture, Tatsuki reciprocated the hug after hesitating for a moment.

"It's nice to meet you too, uh…" Tatsuki started,

"Neliel Tu Odelshwanck. But everyone calls me Nel" the turquoise haired woman offered. "The pretty blonde over there is my ally Tier Harribel, and the big dummy you met outside is my other ally, Grimmjow Jaegerjaquez."

Tatsuki smiled at the two women. "Well it's nice to meet you both. I can't really say the same for you friend outside though"

"Understandable, his personality takes some getting used to. He grows on you with time" Tier said meaningfully.

"I doubt I'll be around him long enough to find out. I'm just here to speak to Urahara and then I'll be on my way."

"Ah" Tier said in understanding.

The four women fell into somewhat of a companionable silence as they waited for Urahara to come out from wherever he was. After a few minutes Grimmjow had walked back into the shoten but had said nothing to either of the arrancar women or to the human females in the room. After what seemed like hours rolled by, the clanking sound of geta against the wooden floor alerted them of a presence approaching the back door of the shoten. As expected, the door opened to reveal a slightly disheveled looking Urahara.

"Sorry I took so long everyone, I was putting the final touches on our transportation." He said apologetically behind his fan. Noticing the extra occupant of the room he turned to Orihime.

"I see you've brought a plus one" he said raising an eyebrow at the young woman.

"I didn't mean to! Please don't dissect me Urahara-san!" Orihime wailed, flailing her arms dramatically. The other occupants of the room sweat dropped at the shun shun rikka user's dramatic display.

"Dissect you? Why on earth would I do that?" he asked quizzically. That girl's imagination was really something else.

Sighing, Tatsuki spoke up for her friend. "I forced her to bring me with her, and she's worried you and the creep with the face paint are going to 'dissect' her for letting me know that you had business with her."

"Ah," Kisuke said, rubbing his chin thoughtfully. "Well it is a bit inconvenient that she was unable to keep our project a secret, but I suppose it can't be helped; we would've needed you here eventually. It's better that she spilled her involvement to you, than say Kurosaki or Ishida."

Tatsuki gave Urahara a strange look. "Why would you need me?"

Kisuke adjusted his hat and gave her a cryptic smile. "That's something that's better left for a discussion at a later time, Arisawa-san. Right now there is some business in Soul Society that needs taking care of first."

"What's with everyone wanting to tell me things 'later'?" she said throwing up her hands. "Ugh, anyway I just wanted to make sure that Orihime would be alright here. But since you're all keeping secrets together, I guess there's nothing for me to be worried about. I'll see you later Orihime." With that Tatsuki headed for the exit of the shoten, only to be stopped by Urahara's voice.

"I'm afraid I can't let you leave Arisawa-san."

She turned around and raised an eyebrow at the sandy haired man. "Why not?"

"Because you know that Orihime and I are up to something, and you are a good friend of Ichigo's. I can't have you out and about, running the risk of telling anyone else. What if you accidentally tell someone else and it leads back to Ichigo? Or worse yet, members of the Gotei?"

"I'll keep my lips sealed if that's what you're worried about" she replied tersely.

"I'm afraid I won't be able to take your word for it. Too much depends on this mission for me to allow any unnecessary risks."

"So you expect me to stay cooped up in your weird candy shop until you're finished what you're doing?" she asked indignantly

"Quite the contrary Arisawa-san: I actually intend on bringing you with us. It's a little impromptu but in the long run bringing you with us now won't make much difference"

"I'm guessing I don't have much of a choice in this then?"

"No, unfortunately you don't. But don't worry no one will be getting 'dissected'" he said with a laugh at the end.

.

.

.

* * *

><p><strong>AN: That's all for now. Chapter 3 is already written and will be up soon.**


	3. Chapter 3: The Heart

** Here is Chapter 3 as promised. I'll post the next chapter when time allows. Thank you to everyone who read and followed this story. I appreciate every last show of support. It motivates me to write more than you might imagine. Feel free to PM me if you have any questions about the story. Enjoy**

* * *

><p>.<p>

.

Kisuke had led the group which composed of two humans and three arrancar down into the basement of the shoten, where he had a large portal device set up. He explained that because he and Mayuri had agreed to construct the portals on either side of the realms to prevent the detectors from picking up the presence of Hollow reiatsu stepping through a senkaimon, or worse yet alert the seireitei by having one of the Arrancar open up a garganta. At Tatsuki and Orihime's insistence Kisuke had allowed Tatsuki to text her mother and provide her with an excuse for why she wouldn't be coming home this weekend. The girl had barely gotten to finish sending her message before Kisuke had all but shoved her through the portal along with the rest of the group she was with. The portal was strange, Orihime had noted; totally different from the senkaimon or Garganta or even the dangai which she was used to travelling in. Once they'd passed through the portal they entered a sort of slip-space stasis while the world around them seemed to move in a collage of intermingling color.

Kisuke had explained that because this method of travel was different from the ones that were typically used to enter Soul Society, it would take them far longer than usual to reach their destination. Given that they had a great deal of time on their hands along the way Kisuke and Orihime used that time to fill Tatsuki in on the events of the last few years. To say the girl was shocked would've been a complete understatement. She had known a few things about what had happened involving the Winter War, but the latest events floored her in no small way. Despite their openness with filling her in on the events that had occurred over the last few years they had completely clammed up when she'd inquired about how all of this connected to her. It worried Tatsuki quite significantly that they wouldn't fill her in, but she knew there was nothing that she could do about it for now.

As they'd reached the end of their travel they were expelled rather abruptly from the portal and out into an open room. Losing her balance during the process, Tatsuki grabbed tightly onto the person nearest her hands in order to steady herself. In her desperate attempt to maintain her balance she hadn't noticed that the person she had grabbed on to was none other than the object of her ire, Grimmjow Jaegerjaquez. She looked up to see him staring down at her, his features not indicating much, but his eyes appraising her with a kind of scrutiny which made her uncomfortable. She quickly released him and composed herself, avoiding eye contact with the blue haired man, instead focusing on her new surroundings. They were in a large white room that was relatively sparse. The only things in the room were a control panel, and a few cupboards covered with lab instruments that ran the perimeter of the room. By the control panel was the unmistakeable Kurotsuchi Mayuri who appeared heavily occupied by whatever was on the screen he was looking at.

"You never cease to prove your worthlessness as an accomplice Urahara. Not only is your punctuality grossly lacking, but you managed to break the clause of our agreement by bringing an unauthorized person into my lab" Mayuri said without ever looking back at the newest occupants.

"There is no need for concern Mayuri; Arisawa-san here is one of the people I was telling you about. But I'm sure you could sense that already" Urahara explained.

"From the moment she stepped in it was rather noticeable" Mayuri replied flippantly with a wave of his hand. "If you're finished with stating the obvious then let us begin. Nemu will be here shortly when she has finished her task in the adjacent room.

Urahara nodded affirmatively. "Right then, Inoue-san you brought that box with you today right?" he looked expectantly at the girl.

"Ah, yes I have it right here" she said, retrieving a small black box from her bag.

"Excellent. Now, in a moment Kurotsuchi-san will raise a large tank up from the ground. I need you to place the contents of that box into the tank. Once that is done then I'll tell you what to do next." Kisuke instructed.

True to Kisuke's words, Mayuri raised a large containment tank up from the ground. There was a ladder that ran along the side of the capsule that Orihime used to allow her to reach the top of the tank. She turned the hatch wheel on the top of the tank and lifted it up to allow her to place the contents of the box into it. It was at that moment that the full weight of what she was about to pull off hit her. Her knees felt weak and her palms were sweaty but she forced herself to reign in her emotions. If she wasn't careful she might destroy her last chance at making things right. Looking down at the box in her hand she squeezed it firmly, trying to keep her mind on the memory that was driving her as opposed to the stakes at hand. She opened the box to reveal an eyeball with a distinctively green iris. It hadn't changed at all since the time he'd given it to her, as strange a gesture as it was. What she had initially thought was a strange gift idea had turned out to be something she would be forever thankful for. If this worked out (and she prayed and hoped it would), she would have to give him her thanks again for his very thoughtful present. Inhaling deeply she picked the eyeball out of the box, and very carefully placed it into the now liquid filled containment tank. She closed the tank and tightened the hatch wheel before climbing down the ladder to rejoin Urahara who was now beside Kurotsuchi as opposed to with Tatsuki and the arrancar on the other side of the room.

"What do you need me to do next?" she asked the scientists as she approached them.

Kisuke was the one to answer her query. "Kurotsuchi-san is going to turn on the power switch that is connected to the generator below the tank. When he does this, focus your powers on the eyeball, with the aim to restore Ulquiorra's body and consciousness. You must be absolutely focused on Ulquiorra and things pertaining to him –good or bad – through this process. Replay a memory if necessary."

She nodded, and obediently went to stand in front of the tank. After a moment the tank was enveloped by the roar of energy that was being emitted from the generator and Orihime took that point as her cue to activate her shun shun rikka. The orange shield enveloped the tank as Orihime closed her eyes in concentration, her focus entirely on one of the fonder memories she had of the fourth Espada.

.

.

_She jumped when she had heard the door open even though she already knew who had entered the room. She felt his reiatsu approaching long before he reached her quarters, but he still managed to surprise her anyway. She wasn't so much surprised at the fact that he had entered her quarters as much as she was jolted by the presence of his spiritual essence, as she always was when they were in close proximity. There was something innately hair-raising about his reiatsu, even when he was being non-threatening to her. There was an empty, void quality to it, even though she knew his spiritual pressure was quantitatively vast and overwhelming. One could liken his reiatsu to a big empty vase: it took up large amounts of space, but it was devoid of substance, character. Without flowers, water, rocks, or shells and the like, the vase was quite purposeless; a waste of space. Whenever she felt the vast hollow timbre of his reiatsu, a small part of her that wasn't alarmed by its bareness wished to help him fill the void in his soul that had shamelessly bled itself into his reiatsu. But one look at the pale skinned Arrancar would always cause the more logical part of her to remind her that such a thing was not possible. He was too forbidding, too unwilling to allow another to change him so intimately. Besides, he was an enemy wasn't he?_

"_Onna" he said as he walked up to stand beside her at the window._

"_Hmm?"_

"_Why do you insist on staring out the window if you know the view will never change?"_

"_You already know the answer to that Ulquiorra" she didn't look at him as she spoke. She didn't need to. His expression never changed, whether he was giving her an implicit compliment or he was criticizing her for being weak or delusional. Always the same face, always the same empty, blank expression. It was a shame though; big, bold, beautiful eyes like his deserved to be used for more than just staring people (Orihime for the most part) into submission or striking fear into the hearts of others._

"_Your motives are as pointless as ever, but I have not come here to criticize you at this time." He was looking intently at her, and he knew she could feel the heat of his gaze._

_Ripping her eyes away from the desert scenery she turned to look at the Cuatro Espada. "What did you come for then?"_

"_To give you this" he retrieved a small black box from his pocket and placed it in her hands._

"_A gift? Arigatou Ulquiorra-san" she beamed at him, her smile genuine._

"_How can you thank me if you have not opened it? You have yet to determine its use"_

"_Because it's a gift, and that's what you do when people give you gifts." She explained._

"_Your reasoning is illogical. Open it"_

_She giggled at his remark but did as he said anyway. When she saw what was in the contents of the box she let out a shocked gasp._

"_Your eye…"_

"_You do not appreciate it?" he queried, voice as emotionless as ever._

"_No no no it's not that! I love your eyes – not in the creepy way – but I mean I-I… I just don't understand. Don't you need your eye? And how did you grow one back?"_

"_You are aware of the abilities of my eyes, are you not?"_

"_Ah, no not really"_

"_So long as my vital organs are intact I am able to regenerate removed parts of my body at will and with relative ease. The purpose of this 'gift' is to serve as a tracking device as well as a warning system for your protection. Should Nnoitra or any other Arrancar attempt to invade your personal quarters with the intent to tamper with your person, you are to break my eye immediately. The crushing of my eye will create a blast of energy that will immediately summon me to your side so that I might appropriately deal with your assailants." He explained to her matter-of-factly._

_Her eyes softened as she understood the purpose of the gift. It was pragmatic as was expected of someone like Ulquiorra, but it was his little way of telling her that he cared about her well-being even if he wouldn't admit it verbally. "Arigatou Ulquiorra, this was very sweet of you"_

"_You needn't thank me Onna. I am simply taking practical measures to prevent you from being the target of assault while in Aizen-sama's palace."_

"_I still very much appreciate your gift." she said softly, placing a hand on his shoulder._

_He didn't move in response to her touch, but she knew it must've discomfited him to some extent. "I will return shortly to ensure that you have finished your meal" was all he said before leaving._

.

.

_"I envy because of the heart._

_I glutton because of the heart._

_I covet because of the heart._

_I am prideful because of the heart._

_I sloth because of the heart._

_I rage because of the heart._

_Because of the heart,_

_I lust for everything about you."_

.

.

.

As Orihime kept her eyes closed and focused on her task the others in the room looked on in awe. The force of her reiatsu had caused Ulquiorra's eyeball to burst and the glass-like shards of the organ swirled around in the tank. Just as they look as though they were about to settle to the bottom of the containment capsule the shards suddenly began to take on an unmistakeably green glow. The shards began to swirl rapidly as the glow became stronger and from the fragments in the containment capsule, by some miracle a body had begun to form within the container.

"Holy shit she's really bringing that bastard back!" Grimmjow marvelled, a genuine grin adorning his feral features

"Shh! You'll break her concentration" Nel hushed him

"Who is she bringing back?" Tatsuki asked in a hushed voice

"Our ally and the former Cuatro Espada, Ulquiorra Cifer" Tier answered her.

Tatsuki nodded in amazement as she watched her friend conjure up a man from what was relative to nothingness. As the body began to take form, Tatsuki was able to tell that the man seemed to be tall, quite pale, and slender yet muscular. As Orihime's power's continued to work on forming the man she noticed distinctive characteristics started to become apparent on the man's body. A '4' tattoo began to appear on the left side of his chest, and a hole in the centre of his chest right below his throat._ 'A hollow hole'_ she noted. From the dust shoulder length black hair and a set of facial markings erupted into existence. Each detail of the man was reanimated with a steady precision that no doubt was taking a toll on Orihime. The blonde girl was shaking and sweating drops were sprinkled on her forehead as she worked painstakingly to complete her objective. After a few minutes had passed it was evident that his whole physical form was complete, and all that remained was for Orihime to continue restoring the man's conscience.

.

Orihime was beyond exhausted; this task had proven far more daunting than all of the others she'd taken on thus far, shy her stabilizing the realms. Even Ggio – who she had revived from nothing but DNA samples retrieved from Szayel's lab –had proven much less difficult to revive than the Cuatro espada. For the life of her, she couldn't understand why that would be. His strength perhaps? No that couldn't be it. She'd revived Kyoraku Shunsui and he was far stronger than the Cuatro Espada. What then, could cause him to be such a difficult case?

She could feel that she had reformed his physical body, but she still hadn't successfully returned his consciousness. She really should have rested more and eaten better over the last two weeks; her power levels were much weaker than normal, no doubt from the over-exertion she had put herself under. Restoring the equilibrium of all existence and reviving multiple Taichou-class Arrancar wasn't exactly good for one's energy levels. But despite her exhaustion, Orihime pressed on with all of her might, focusing in all her senses on trying to bring the Cuatro Espada back to life. She could feel that she was almost there but she just needed a little push to bring Ulquiorra all the way back. Reaching deep within herself to find the necessary strength she channelled all of the energy she could muster into her energy shield. Having used every last drop of energy that she could muster shy of tapping into her own life-force Orihime finally caved, falling to her knees in exhaustion. She was gasping deeply for air as she tried to catch her breath. She rose up to look at the containment tank and her heart fell as she saw that Ulquiorra –while whole – seemed to be completely lifeless inside the containment tank. This was nothing like when she had resurrected the others. As soon as she had finished reforming their physical bodies and imbuing them with her energy, they had immediately awoken, only to be knocked out by Nemu's tranquilizer.

"I…I couldn't do it" she said, her words barely above a whisper.

The cold, numbing sensations of failure and fatigue had begun to pool in the pit of her stomach. Failure. Complete and utter failure. His physical body was there but his consciousness, his awareness, was nowhere to be found. Of all the Espada she had attempted to revive, he was the one she most wanted to see living and breathing once more. She was almost positive in her spirit that he had wanted life more than all of them at the moment of his death. His life was taken all because of her, just as he was beginning to find the purpose that he had yearned for. She had failed him in life, and now even in death she was still just as incompetent. The overwhelming emotions of guilt, frustration, failure and exhaustion enveloped Orihime, and despite herself she couldn't stop the hot tears from streaming down her face and the hiccupped bawl that wracked her diaphragm as she wallowed in her own self-pity. Vaguely, she felt Tatsuki wrap her arms around her and ask her if she would be alright. She couldn't bring herself to respond, too disappointed in herself to utter any words. She was so caught up in her own frustration that she didn't hear the sound of a charged bala, and barely registered the sound of glass exploding. If it wasn't for Grimmjow grabbing her and Tatsuki out of the way she was sure they would've gotten a set of nasty scars from the flying debris that had resulted from the blast.

"Onna" an all too familiar voice said amidst the mass of dust, glass and rubble.

"Your wailing displeases me"

* * *

><p><strong>AN: Until next time.**


End file.
